‘Millionaire’ goes online in real time

Prizes awarded to top winners in every time zone

Armchair “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” players can now get interactive.

Starting Tuesday, viewers will be able to play along with “Millionaire” by using the Enhanced TV feature from Go.com.

Viewers will have a chance to answer questions at the same time contestants on the TV show are in the hot seat. Enhanced TV players will compete against all other online users watching the show.

At-home players will also be able to create their own private room to compete against each other, and private chat rooms will give users a chance to discuss the program with one another in real time.

Prizes will be awarded to the top 10 winners in every time zone — although wannabe millionaires will still have to appear on the TV version.

Also with Enhanced TV, computer screens synchronized to the telecast will feature frame grabs and contestant bios. Online contestants will have a chance at additional points through bonus questions during commercial breaks.

Go.com first produced Enhanced TV telecasts for NFL games on ABC and ESPN this fall, as well as the Sugar Bowl and Super Bowl on ABC. The Super Bowl’s Enhanced TV production drew 650,000 users at an average of 42 minutes each.

“After an extremely successful run during the 1999 football season, we are eager to apply our groundbreaking Enhanced TV programming to this immensely popular series,” said Jonathan Leess, senior vice president, Enhanced TV, Go.com.